Saturday, January 26, 2013

Karl Bremer, journalist, photographer, friend and the proprietor of this blog passed away January 15, 2013 from complications related to pancreatic cancer.

Ripple in Stillwater will remain on the web as an archive and resource for reporters, historians and anyone who shares Karl's passion for music, art, the environment and the beautiful St. Croix Valley.

We want to thank the many loyal readers of Ripple in Stillwater.

If this is your first time here, if you just happen to be here via a search or link from another website, Thank you for stopping by. Please stay awhile, read and enjoy Karl's many well-crafted articles and photos. If you find something here worth mentioning elsewhere, please credit the author and link back to the source. Thanks again.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Ripple in Stillwater collected two more Minnesota Society for Professional Journalists Page One Awards June 19, bringing to three the total number of MN-SPJ awards this blog has won in less than two years online.

In the online category, I won First Place for “Best News Portrait” for my photo of convicted money launderer and GOP donor Frank Vennes Jr. as he ran through the streets of St. Paul trying to flee from my lens following a federal court appearance in September 2011. After chasing him for two blocks, I was able to capture the fleet-footed felon on the run before he ducked into a bank building.

In addition to the two 2012 SPJ Page One Awards, I won a second place 2011 Page One
Award for “Best Use of Public Records” for my series on
recently-captured fraudster and GOP donor "Bobby Thompson." And this spring,
City Pages voted Ripple in
Stillwater“Best Local Blog” in its Best of the Twin Cities 2012
competition.

A tip o' the hat to fraudsters and Ponzimen everywhere! As long as you keep plying your slippery trades in these parts, Ripple in Stillwater will be there to cast a light upon you.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Here at Ripple in Stillwater World Headquarters in Stillwater Township, we sometimes tire of the daily grind of boondoggle bridges, fraudsters, money-grubbing politicians and other cancers, and prefer instead to focus on the beauty of the visual image rather than the printed word.

Last night, we (me and my trusty Nikon D300) turned our gaze skyward to record the last transit of the planet Venus across the face of the sun in our lifetime. This happens when the orbit of Venus passes directly between Earth and the sun. The last time it occurred, in 2004, it was cloudy in these parts; it won't happen again until 2117.

Using the same technique I used to shoot the partial solar eclipse May 20 (see below), I zoomed in on our neighboring planet as it made its historic trek across the setting sun at dusk last night. It's the little black dot in the upper-right area of the image above.

Venus kept us entertained earlier this spring as it danced across the twilight sky with Jupiter for several weeks (also see below).

Look for more images from the award-winning lens of Ripple in Stillwater in the future.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Evidently, the Minnesota
Deer Hunters Association and a majority of the Minnesota Legislature—the
parties responsible for ramming a wolf hunting season through the Capitol five
years ahead of schedule.

When the federal government removed gray wolves from the
endangered and threatened species lists in Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Michigan
in January, the wolf haters ramped up their bloodthirsty lobbying efforts for a 2012
season to start shooting them legally for the first time in Minnesota
since the 1970s.

The DNR states that “Minnesotans clearly value wolves.
Public opinion surveys and attitudes demonstrated during development of the
state's wolf management plan show people view the animal as ecologically
important, scientifically fascinating, aesthetically attractive, recreationally
appealing and significant for future generations. Only a small minority fear
and dislike wolves or believe Minnesota
would be a more desirable place without this apex predator.”

Yet it was that “small minority” that drove the legislature
to start killing wolves this year rather than wait five years to see how the
population stabilized after federal delisting, as the original plan called for.
That same "small minority" has been shooting wolves illegally for decades and is now just looking for cover for their cowardly deeds. It's one of the few federal crimes that I hear people--including one state lawmaker--openly admit to committing.

'PENT-UP ENTHUSIASM'

DNR Fish & Wildlife Director Ed Boggess told a
legislative panel earlier this year: “There’s been a pent-up enthusiasm, a
pent-up demand to hunt wolves.” It’s not likely that “enthusiasm” is driven by
a sudden popularity of wolf fur among hunters.And it’s certainly not for their meat.

The wolf season has little to do with protecting farmers
from wolf depredation of livestock, either; they already are compensated for those losses. It has equally little to do with population management of wolves.
According to the DNR, Minnesota’s
wolf population—the largest in the lower 48 states—has remained “relatively
stable” at around 3,000 for the past decade without a hunting season.

A total of 6,000 wolf licenses will be made available via
lottery (5,400 hunting and 600 trapping/snaring); 95 percent will be sold to
residents and 5 percent to nonresidents. A quota of 400 wolves will be allowed
to be killed during the season.

So the legal killing of wolves has been signed, sealed and
delivered by the State of Minnesota,
and the season is set. Nothing more that can be done about it, right?

Well, perhaps.

$34 TO SAVE A WOLF?

If you’re willing to invest $34, you can buy a chance on
saving one wolf’s life. Simply enter the lottery for one of the 6,000
licenses—a $30 wolf license must be purchased to enter the lottery, which costs
another $4—and if you win the right to kill a wolf, don’t exercise it.

There’s nothing that requires you to use a wolf license just
because you buy one. Since there’s a cap on the number of licenses sold, every
license that is won in the lottery but not used reduces the chances that the wolf
kill quota set by the DNR will be reached.

Ordinarily, this might be seen as unwise meddling in a scientifically-based
hunting season. But there is nothing scientific about this wolf hunting season.
It’s a purely political response to satisfy the bloodlust of a vocal minority of wolf haters. A
season on wolves is not necessary to maintain a desirable wolf population. In
fact, the DNR hasn’t even determined what Minnesota’s
maximum wolf population should be, only that it shouldn’t fall below a winter
population of 1,600.

So if you think a season on wolves is one of the most
idiotic things to come down the pike since a mourning dove season, step right
up and invest $34 on a chance to buy a wolf a reprieve from the executioner. It
may not stop the jackpine savages from shooting wolves altogether, but at least
you’ll get the satisfaction of making them work a little harder to "get their wolf."

As a deer hunter who knows the value that wolves provide in culling deer herds of their unhealthy numbers, among other benefits for the soul, I plan to do just that.

In less than two years online, Ripple in Stillwater
has racked up three professional journalism awards and another alt-media “best
of” citation. In addition to the two 2012 SPJ Page One Awards, I won a second
place Page One Award last year for “Best Use of Public Records” for my series on recently-captured fraudster and GOP donor "Bobby Thompson." And this
spring, City Pages voted Ripple in Stillwater“Best Local Blog” in its Best of the Twin Cities 2012 competition.

Ripple in Stillwater

Ripple in Stillwater is the sole creation of Stillwater, Minnesota, writer Karl Bremer. It covers whatever captures the author's muse at the moment. You can reach Ripple in Stillwater at saintcroix-at-aol-dot-com, or you can follow me on Twitter @kdbremer. If you're wondering about the name of this blog, go here.

Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Award Winner

Ripple in Stillwater author Karl Bremer won Second Place in the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Awards for "Best Use of Public Records."

Followers

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